Though unlikely, league sources added there is a chance Gay could return earlier than expected as he is healthy enough to play, but the Spurs appear set on sticking with the timetable of Gay's return post All-Star, wanting him at 100 percent with no further setbacks. "There are areas that, when he plays well, we can really take advantage of." "We need what he can bring from a scoring standpoint offensively," Buford told the Express-News earlier this month before the Spurs played the Knicks.
In addition to Kawhi Leonard‘s reported desire to leave San Antonio, Danny Green and Joffrey Lauvergne also have player-option decisions to make, Tony Parker and Kyle Anderson will be free agents, and Manu Ginobili is believed to be considering retirement.
471/.314/.772 shooting line for the season.Īdditionally, Gay may not want to lock himself into another season with the Spurs as long as the team’s roster remains in flux.
While Gay missed time with health problems and averaged a career-low 21.6 minutes per contest, his per-minute numbers were solid, as he posted 11.5 PPG and 5.1 RPG with a. In that conversation with McDonald earlier in the spring, the veteran reportedly sounded “genuinely torn” over whether or not to pick up his option, but it makes some sense that he’d seek a new deal on the open market. “I didn’t feel like there was anything worse I can go through (than the Achilles tendon injury).” “A lot of times, I will-powered through games, will-powered through practices,” Gay told Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News in April. However, he was nagged by Achilles and heel problems during the winter, limiting him to 57 regular season games - he never seemed fully like his old self. Gay, whose 2016/17 campaign ended early due to an Achilles injury, made a speedy recovery and was ready to go for the Spurs in the fall after signing a two-year, $17.2MM deal with the club. The option would have paid Gay a salary of $8,826,300 for next season. Spurs forward Rudy Gay will turn down his 2018/19 player option, electing to become a free agent on July 1, reports ESPN’s Chris Haynes.